Chapter 14 A Life's Worth

"Old Han, when I wake up in the morning, I like to climb high and look far, surveying the situation around the camp."

The ancient, bald Grandmaster Weilie was concise, "And at that time, I saw you release a squirrel—but where would a squirrel come from around Mount Taibai?"

He coughed and sighed softly, "Honestly, Old Han, you're a little anxious, but if it were me, I'd be anxious too."

"Yes, you should have hidden yourself better… but who knew that the variables would suddenly change so much in just a few days? I don't blame you for being nervous."

Facing Han Xiaoqian, who was expressionless and silent, Li Daoran, standing directly in front of him, exhaled. He didn't sigh, but his tone carried a hint of sorrow, "The Blue Cangye poison, the Burning Heart Fire poison, in this camp of ours, besides you, the number of people who can effectively use it without killing themselves can be counted on one hand, and three of them are your disciples."

"That Demon General Chidi dared to attack the fortress alone, presumably because he got the correct information, but not the latest correct information, right? Indeed, Weilie is seriously injured, and you are a spy. It's hard for me to fight four hands alone. Why wouldn't Chidi dare to attack the fortress? If he really couldn't win, couldn't he just run away?"

Weilie, who had already drawn his twin blades from his waist and adopted a stance, chuckled and took over, "But Grandmaster Su's sudden appearance reversed the situation—he healed me, and he himself is inexplicably strong. At first, you didn't even dare to identify him as a demon soldier, lest you provoke us to really fight him, and then you, with the lowest frontal combat ability, would lose your life."

"And the three attacking Demon Generals were eliminated by one in that battle, so I really have to thank you for that." Coordinating with Weilie, Li Daoran also drew his sword at this time. A fierce gust of Qi began to swirl around the Taoist and his magic sword. In an instant, more than a dozen air blades condensed out of thin air, swirling around him.

If Su Zhou were here, he would be surprised to discover that Li Daoran's signature inner force Qi blade was actually somewhat similar to the Zhoushen Lan Jia Fa!

Sighing here, Li Daoran shook his head and said, "Actually, what finally confirmed my suspicion was the original copy of the *Zhoushen Lan Jia Fa* (All-Encompassing Armor of Azure Mist) that you gave to Su Zhou."

"Old Han, we've all practiced that technique. Who doesn't know that it takes dozens of days to construct the first 'Lan Zhong' (Mist Seed) for the 'Lan Jia' (Mist Armor), and during the construction process, the spiritual energy will even stagnate, making it difficult to mobilize? I can barely cultivate a few 'Lan Zhong' because I simplified the cultivation method with the help of the Dao Saint, completely abandoning the defense of the Lan Jia, and only using the wind to condense swords. Even so, it took me three months to initially succeed."

"If it weren't for Bu Yi telling me, I wouldn't have known that you used the original Xiantian (Innate) technique to trick Little Brother Su into wasting time and inner force to condense that kind of thankless Lan Zhong—I'll send a message later to call Bu Yi and the others back, and tell Grandmaster Su to temporarily abandon practicing such a secret technique."

Seeing Han Xiaoqian raise his head, his eyes filled with surprise, Li Daoran couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle, "You thought I would really let Su Zhou and the others go far? Although it is indeed necessary to scout the movements of the demon soldiers, I specifically instructed Bu Yi to take Grandmaster Su around the area to take a look and deal with it perfunctorily, and then start the formal reconnaissance tomorrow after you 'die peacefully in your sleep'."

"'Die peacefully in your sleep'… you don't plan to expose my identity? For morale, right? But you didn't explicitly state this purpose, you told Bu Yi, right?"

Hearing this, Han Xiaoqian, who had been expressionless all along, suddenly smiled mockingly, "Brother Xingde, let me guess, you should have just told Bu Yi to take Grandmaster Su to wander around the surrounding mountains, right?"

"But you may not know that today, the Liaozhou migrants will pass through the Baishui Pass and head to the old Goryeo ferry—do you think that your well-educated good disciple, or that extremely curious Grandmaster Su, would not go to see the situation, and not inform the other party that there might be demon soldiers chasing them?"

"Impossible, right? They are all such softhearted people. I guess they are probably already trapped in the demon soldiers' ambush—haha, the speed at which your expressions change is really ugly."

Han Xiaoqian laughed a few times, seemingly mocking Li Daoran and Weilie for their sudden changes in expression, appearing to have calculated everything, but in reality, their plans couldn't keep up with the changes.

But the next second, the mocking expression on Han Xiaoqian's face suddenly became calm. He narrowed his eyes, raised his hand, looked down at the palm of his hand, and then said calmly, "Unfortunately, my plans also can't keep up with the changes… Hehe, it's really laughable to say, you probably don't know that Su Zhou has already cultivated the first 'Lan Zhong' last night—when I witnessed it with my own eyes, I was so shocked that I forgot to breathe, and even forgot to regret why I passed on the original Xiantian secret technique to him."

Ignoring Li Daoran and Weilie's incomparably shocked exclamations of 'What?!' 'Unbelievable…', Han Xiaoqian raised his eyelids and looked in the direction of the departing migrants. The corners of his mouth twitched into a smile, as if he was mocking himself, "So I knew from last night that even if hundreds of demon soldiers and two demon generals surrounded him, it would be absolutely impossible to keep that monster… haha, strange? Precisely because I have always been thinking about targeting him, I am clear about this."

"Just like that Demon General Chidi confidently ran over to attack the fortress, I guess that this time, the ones who will die in the encirclement by Liesheng and Yushou will definitely not be Su Zhou!"

Clearly a spy, clearly a traitor, yet he unhesitatingly made the least optimistic statement for the 'theoretically' allied side. Han Xiaoqian spread his hands, opened his arms, indicating that he had no weapons.

Then, just like that, he sat down with his five hearts facing the sky, cross-legged in place, without moving, as if he had given up resisting.

"Old Han, since you know that you can't surround Grandmaster Su."

Weilie and Li Daoran exchanged glances. Neither of them acted rashly to step forward. The ancient, bald Grandmaster just gripped his twin blades tightly and asked in confusion, "Then why did you still send information to the demon army?"

"Why not?"

Han Xiaoqian instead asked back in confusion, "If Grandmaster Su is accidentally killed by the demon army—then the demon army can almost be said to be guaranteed to win, you won't be able to defend it, although I can't see that scene coming."

"But if he's fine, then it will be the victory of the Hundred Schools—I also can't see that scene coming."

"Originally, I thought that it would take you a little time to discover that I was a spy. In that case, at least I could see the ending of this war early and give myself a thought."

Speaking here, Han Xiaoqian chuckled a few times, "Unfortunately, it was too fast, too fast, just like life is too hasty."

For a time, the three were silent, with only the quiet and steady, long breaths of the Grandmasters remaining.

"I just want to live longer, to live longer."

Han Xiaoqian, whose tone had become low, took the lead in speaking. He said this, his ancient voice carrying a hint of reluctance, "There are too many things in this world that I haven't seen or enjoyed… Starting from the spirited and vigorous youthful era, fighting against the demon dynasty for more than seventy years, I am already tired. All my life, the most wonderful time, has been spent on this career, witnessing the occurrence of one massacre after another, the passing of one friend after another, the distortion of one soul after another… I am unwilling for my life to be fought for 'the joys and sorrows of the people of the world'. I want to live 'for my own joys and sorrows'!"

"I want to be selfish one last time, take the Undying Root and fly far away, never to return to Shenzhou, this sad place, even half a step."

"But who knew that the development, which was clearly progressing very smoothly, would actually turn into what it is now… Is this fate? Why would there be such a variable as Su Zhou? I can't guess at all, and I'm too lazy to guess—I lost, I lost miserably."

Looking around at the two Grandmasters who were still very cautious and had not approached, but also had not launched an attack immediately, Han Xiaoqian raised his head and looked up at the sky. He said calmly, "There's no need to be so timid. I have really given up resisting—I have no poison on me, nor any Gu. We've known each other for so many years, when would I carry those things around with me?"

"Since I can't achieve immortality, and a free and unrestrained second half of my life doesn't exist, then I might as well dedicate the life I already have to the righteous army, and not even struggle with my last bit of dignity—divine weapons are about to be forged, and there are young people like Grandmaster Su with Xiantian potential joining, the long-standing disadvantage of the Hundred Schools' righteous army has actually been reversed in an instant…"

"Haha, even if the Demon Emperor or the National Preceptor achieves Xiantian, they won't be able to be arrogant for too long, because at that time, after they successfully transform into dragons, what they will probably face is a Xiantian Martial Saint holding the Blade of Extinction!"

"The world is unpredictable, the world is unpredictable!"

Looking at the ever-changing flowing clouds, he laughed somewhat crazily, and as he laughed, tears flowed out.

"The world is not unpredictable… Only the righteous path is ever-changing."

Seeing his old friend in such a disoriented state, Weilie was silent for a long time. He said in a deep voice, "No matter how difficult it is, we will definitely reopen peace."

To this, Han Xiaoqian just chuckled, "Peace… hehe, can there really be peace? Without the Demon Emperor, there will be other Evil Emperors, Demon Emperors. As long as the Banyan Undying Tree and other demon trees still exist, there will never be a peaceful day in this world!"

"No, there won't be." Li Daoran replied solemnly. He clenched his sword hilt and said each word clearly, "You may not know, the Dao Saint has already found a way to refine 'Green Phosphorus' into white phosphorus and yellow phosphorus, and we have also found black fuel oil, and several Grand Artisans are making related weapons… Even the divine tree will definitely be burned to ashes by our flames."

"Moreover, our Hundred Schools, under the proposal of the Confucian Saint, have already drafted a brand-new order system… Although it's not very perfect yet, it will probably be officially revised after the Demon Emperor is defeated, but that system called 'Governance by Sages' is definitely more advanced than the corrupt 'Emperor System'."

"…Is that so."

"…So you already have a plan. Although it sounds like a joke."

Stunned for a moment, Han Xiaoqian stopped looking up at the sky. He lowered his head and looked at Li Daoran, who had a solemn expression but a firm grip on his sword, and then looked at Weilie, who was expressionless but nodded, looking indifferent.

--Yes, so what if it's a joke.

--Eighty years ago, resisting the Demon Emperor, the Demon Dynasty, and the Demon Army was also a joke.

The ancient Grandmaster was silent for a long time, then smiled and closed his eyes.

"Send me on my way." He said softly.

Puff puff puff puff puff puff—

Without any hesitation, without even getting close, at the moment he heard Han Xiaoqian say these words, Li Daoran waved his long sword, and suddenly his Qi burst forth, and more than a dozen Qi swords shot out of thin air, directly piercing Han Xiaoqian full of holes, blood splattering, surpassing bows and crossbows by several times.

When Han Xiaoqian's breath was completely gone and his body fell softly to the side, Li Daoran, a warrior who had killed countless demons, slowly lost his serious expression. The Grandmaster's lips were trembling, his cheeks became bloodless, and even the basic action of sheathing his sword almost cut his hand.

Weilie, who had been guarding the rear without saying much, sighed.

The Grandmaster, who was equally ancient but had shaved his white hair until it was gleaming, raised his head like Han Xiaoqian had before, looking up at the ever-changing azure clouds on top of Mount Taibai, his eyes with a hint of moist light, "Why bother, Old Han, why bother…"

"Decades of fighting side by side, vowing to eradicate the undying and to punish the unjust… We're already at the end, we've already seen the dawn of victory and hope, why, why bother…"

"Longevity… Immortality…"

"Immortality…"

Regret for the dead is never as important as worry for the living.

Five minutes later, Grandmaster Li Daoran led a team of thirty-five people, rushing down the mountain to meet Su Zhou and the others who might have been attacked.

Silent all the way. Sighing at the fleeting years. Temples already frosted. The world is vast and boundless.

Under the heavy snow, only the sword light flickered continuously.